We've had a large raptor visit our backyard a few times this summer, suggesting our home was within its hunting ground, a hint the birds seemed to take as well—nothing improves the mileage you stretch out of a sack of birdseed like a predator looming in a nearby tree. Yesterday the looming got even more nearby, as he ended up perched on the birdfeeder, giving me my first close-up look at him. He didn't stick around long enough for a direct comparison to a bird book, but as far as I was able to tell it was probably a Cooper's Hawk. Whatever the breed, this was one awesome bird.